A survey compiled by Kings College London has found that workers in London dislike commuting.
According to the research, 75 percent of Londoners think they will never return to the office on a full-time basis. However, many respondents cited travelling to work and not their place of work as the principal reason for adopting hybrid working.
80 percent of workers said that dodging the commute drove their decision to stay at home. At the same time, most workers said that they enjoyed the experience of being in the office once they got there.
As well as travelling less frequently, the survey highlighted other ways that respondents said that they have been positively impacted by the change in working patterns. 84 percent of London workers reported that working from home helps them to feel more in control of their lives. And in a headline figure that will give senior execs food for thought, a meagre 16 percent of those surveyed said that they’d feel positive about working more days a week in their London-based offices.
Mark Klienman, professor of public policy at the Policy Institute, King’s College London said: ‘The revolution in working practices kickstarted by Covid-19 has sparked intense debate – but it’s clear that London workers are mostly hugely positive about working from home, with four in five saying they’ve experienced benefits from doing so. This is partly down to practical changes to their routines, such as avoiding commuting and being able to better manage other responsibilities at home, but there are also less tangible factors at play, including a greater feeling of control and of being connected to things that really matter to them. It’s no surprise, then, that a large majority think we’ll never return to old ways of working.’
The Workers Union Says…
In the battle for the hearts, minds and signatures of the 21st century worker, flexibility is the key. That is not the same thing as cutting hours or wages and neither is it the same as offering meagre concessions to hybrid working. The canny businesses will be the ones that stay on a path of enlightenment, upping their game to provide staff with better, more empathic support for homeworking that is informed by an understanding of the pressures and responsibilities of modern life.
Of course, some will argue that this London-centric survey is unrepresentative of the situation faced by workers outside the capital. And while it might be easy for company chiefs to blather about the extra absorbency that London’s hyper-developed technological infrastructure and aggregation of talent offers, such a viewpoint downplays the commitment and abilities of workers in other parts of the country. These people are just as capable, and for the most part, just as able to access the technology required to do their jobs at home.
For the modern worker, an ability to ‘design’ their life around home and work is fast becoming a major attraction. With the cost of living soaring and transport networks suffering from regional under-investment, this trend is likely to continue. The business leaders that wise up will take their place at the vanguard of the revolution. The companies that pedal the status quo will lose the race to secure top talent.
